K-9 Police Dog, Officers Visit Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School Students

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — In an effort to better connect and educate the students and the school community, the Somerset County Sheriff's Department and the Bridgewater Police Department visited the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School on Monday.

The Somerset County K-9 Unit’s dog, whose name is Caesar, walked onto center stage in the gym at the middle school with Officer Dan Soffer who is the county police department’s K-9 handler, and Bridgewater Township police officer Ty Barnett, who is also a Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District School Resource Officer.

Middle School Counselors Julia Meistrich and Alyssa DiGirolamo coordinated the event with Ted Lewis, the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District’s Assistant Security Coordinator, to come up with a plan to strengthen the relations between the police and the community during School Violence Prevention Week.

"We wanted to come up with a program for this week to get the kids to better know the police," said Meistrich.

Inside the gym Caesar followed Soffer’s instructions and commands .

"This was great to interact with the students and the kids enjoyed it," Soffer said. "They learned how a K-9 is used for the police."

The students were also able to ask questions about Caesar?

Students learned Caesar lives with Soffer at his home; that he was trained for 16 weeks before he joined the county police department; and that he is named after a donor, Dr. Caesar DePaco, who helped fund the police department in purchasing two dogs, including Caesar, and a K-9 vehicle.

Outside the building, Officer Barnett explained the many functions of his police cruiser to students.

"I love doing this. At the end of the day, this just bridges the gap between the community and the police," Barnett said.

Middle School Principal Megan Corliss appreciated the demonstration that the police offered.

"I want to thank the police departments for the time they took to educate our students," Corliss said.

DiGirolamo felt that there was also another positive purpose of this visit.

"This did not only help with the relations between our youth and the police but it was also an opportunity for kids to be educated on potential jobs in their future," DiGirolamo said.